Sent from my iPad
Begin forwarded message:
From: "Gatestone Institute" <list@gatestoneinstitute.org>
Date: June 19, 2013 3:17:35 AM GMT-06:00
To: bobbygmartin1938@gmail.com
Subject: Gatestone Update :: Ali Salim: The Religious War in the Middle East, and more
Reply-To: "Gatestone Institute" <list@gatestoneinstitute.org>
In this mailing:
- Ali Salim: The Religious War in the Middle East
- Robert Ellis: Tayyip Erdoğan, "God's Gift to Turkey"
- Banafsheh Zand: Hassan Rouhani, In His Own Words
The Religious War in the Middle East
Send
Comment
Share: 
Be the first of your friends to like this.
The proposal of the United States for a Palestinian state and a joint Palestinian, Jordanian and Israeli policing mechanism in the Jordan Valley seems like a pipe dream. That sort of suggestion, disconnected from reality, clearly indicates a dangerous lack of awareness concerning the increasing militant Islamic aggression toward Israel and the West.
Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah has been doing a lot of soul-searching these days. He has been assessing his options and those of his terrorist organization and wondering about the outcome. Despite his usual smug boasts, in his last speech he could not quite hide his fears, even though he was being recorded deep in his bunker in the southern Beirut suburb of Dahia.
Nasrallah is worried. Even though the forces of the Syrian regime, supported by armed Iranians and armed gangs of Hezbollah operatives, continue to slaughter their Sunni citizens using poison gas to realize local achievements, as in the city of Al-Qusayr, he is worried. Despite the state-of-the-art arms Russia recently presented to the Syrian regime, some of which are supposed to be delivered to him as well, he is worried. Despite victory propaganda spread by the Syrians and their collaborators, the man radiates pessimism
Apparently Nasrallah, Iran's indentured servant who sacrificed his men and all Lebanon on the altar of Iran's foreign interests, has finally realized that even if the Syrian regime survives and conquers the rebel strongholds and their supporters in the Syrian cities, and even if the Syrian resistance is obliterated, the defeat of the Syrian regime is approaching, as is the defeat of the Hezbollah operatives fighting for it, their deaths and massive defeat in Syria cannot be prevented, and the conflict between Shi'ites and Sunnis will worsen and spread.
All of what Nasrallah has finally realized came through loud and clear in his most recent speech broadcast by Al-Manar. As usual, his speech was rife with incitement and contempt for the "plots" of Israel and the United States to take over Syria and Lebanon, destroy the "resistance" led by the Assad regime and thereby prevent the total destruction of the State of Israel and the "liberation" of Palestine. This time, however, his hysterical attacks against the gangs of takfir (Muslims who accuse other Muslims of abandoning Islam and being infidels) exposed genuine fear.
Terrified, Nasrallah called the operatives of Al-Qaeda, the Nusra Front and Ahrar al-Sham --all acting aside the Free Syrian Army fighters opposing the regime, and against Hezbollah in Syria and Lebanon -- dangerous gangs of takfir. He knows that they accuse Shi'ites, Alawites and Druze of having abandoned Sunni Islam, and that for the takfir, they are worse than infidels and should be put to death.
These gangs of takfir currently operating in Syria at the side of the Sunni rebels against Hezbollah are, in fact, genuine rivals of Nasrallah; he is more afraid of them than of Israel. The bloody confrontations in Syria cut through the boundaries between Sunnis and Shi'ites more than they did in Iraq, Lebanon and Bahrain, and are approaching a religious explosion the likes of which has never been seen in the Middle East.
In the meantime the Muslim Brotherhood, not to be caught napping, has declared Hezbollah -- warring with Assad against the Sunnis -- an enemy of Islam that has "shown its ugly face." In Tripoli the Lebanese Sunni sheikh al-Rifa'i declared jihad on Hezbollah, and the Sunni Muslim leader close to Muslim Brotherhood circles and Hamas, sheikh Yusuf al-Qaradawi, in a sermon from Doha, called for every Sunni to join the battle against Assad and his collaborators. The leader of radical Sunni Islamic opposition group Ahrar al-Sham recently declared that the united Islamic state of "Greater Syria" (Alsham), to be established in Syria and Iraq, will eliminate Hezbollah and Iranian presence in the Middle east and expel Russia from Syria, depriving it of its warm water ports.
The signs that things were getting worse were clear in Hezbollah's Lebanese strongholds along the Syrian border. Last week the Syrian rebels launched two rockets at the outskirts of the plains of Brital in east Baalbek and Nahle on the Bekaa in Lebanon. In addition, 16 rockets and mortar shells were fired at the Baalbek region. The Grad missiles launched at the Hezbollah stronghold in Dahia in Beirut were part of the escalation, as were the bloody confrontations between Shi'ites and Sunnis in Lebanon, in which Hezbollah is specifically designated as an enemy of the Sunnis. The Lebanese demand for Hezbollah to disarm is growing louder. And it is now, as Assad, Iranians and Hezbollah operatives massacre Syrians and Palestinians in the Al-Yarmouk refugee camp, that Nasrallah's worries are multiplying.
Apparently even the Israelis consider Hezbollah's Iranian-inspired slogans about the liberation of Palestine, about the Israeli threat to Syria and Lebanon and about the historic role of the Assad regime in the anti-Israeli and anti-American resistance to be empty and pitiful. The slogans represent the fraud Iran, Hezbollah and Hamas perpetrate in the name of destroying Israel, liberating Palestine, ending American hegemony in the Middle East and glorifying Syria as the main axis in the fighting -- all for the purpose of completing the Iranian nuclear bomb project. In the past Nasrallah's speeches created solidarity with Iran and Hezbollah, drawing the Gulf states' attention away from the Iranian nuclear threat.
That particular concept is collapsing like an old worn-out tent in Syria and Lebanon. Desperate, Assad is considering declaring war on Israel as a way of evading being remembered by history as slaughtering his own people and being too much of a coward to face Israel. He represents his threats against Israel as the desires of the Syrian people, and blames Israel for giving military support to the rebels -- possibly hoping that such a confrontation will close the Syrian ranks behind him and force the rebels to join him. Apparently the Middle East is girding its loins for a full-scale, no-boundary war. Past conflicts and current internal frictions based on sectarianism, religion and ideology will join to crumble the artificially-created Arab states which until yesterday seemed perfectly stable.
Given the ongoing chaos in the Middle East and the collapse of the artificial Arab states based on the Sykes-Picot Agreement, the proposal of U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry for the creation of a new Palestinian state and a joint Palestinian, Jordanian and Israeli policing mechanism in the Jordan Valley seems like a pipe dream. That sort of suggestion, disconnected from reality, clearly indicates a dangerous lack of awareness concerning the Middle East past, present and future, a kind of Lawrence of Arabia optimism and romanticism which allows him to ignore the emergence of the increasing militant Islamic aggression toward Israel and the West. All that is left is to hope that somewhere in Washington people are really paying attention and preparing to deploy for the real, first priority inevitable battle against Iran and its satellites, with their capabilities dramatically to influence world peace.
Related Topics: Ali Salim
Tayyip Erdoğan, "God's Gift to Turkey"
Share: "In the Islamic world, democratization has led to an increasing role for theocratic politics." — Fareed Zakaria
The Turkish Minister for EU Affairs, Egemen Bağış, has declared that Prime Minister Erdoğan is a gift sent by God to Turkey and to humanity. But what do half the Turkish electorate do – as well as the rest of humanity – when the gift is unwanted?
There is no doubt that the Almighty has bestowed upon the world a special gift.
We have ex-Libyan leader Colonel Mohammed Gaddafi's word for that: in November 2010 the Turkish prime minister was awarded with the Al-Gaddafi International Prize for Human Rights for "distinguished service to humanity."
During the award ceremony Prime Minister Erdoğan declared that Islamophobia was a crime against humanity and that Muslims come from a tradition that also regards anti-Semitism as a crime against humanity. At a meeting of the Alliance of Civilizations in March, however, he added Zionism to the list, together with fascism.
To cap it all, when Erdoğan was in Algeria during his recent North Africa tour, he received an honorary doctorate from the University of Algiers, also for his contribution to humanity. On his return, Erdoğan was given a rapturous welcome by his supporters and saluted not only his brothers in Istanbul and Turkey but also those in Sarajevo, Baku, Beirut, Skopje, Damascus, Gaza, Mecca and Medina. There was no mention of Europe or elsewhere.
The crowd shouted, "Let's go to Taksim and crush them," but the Prime Minister preferred to quote the Turkish poet Yunus Emre: "I don't come to fight, my job is for love. The friend's home is in hearts, I come to build hearts." In the meantime, the police in Taksim Square in Istanbul and Kuğulu Park in Ankara got on with the business of winning hearts and minds.
In his speech Erdoğan rejected the notion that he was only prime minister for the 50% and claimed he was the servant of Turkey's 76 million. The great leap forward for the Turkish economy under the AKP that he mentioned is undoubtedly true, but it has come at the expense of civil liberties and a growing division in Turkish society.
Last November, celebrating the AKP's 10 years of government, Prime Minister Erdoğan spoke of a mental revolution; this, again, is true. Religion has played a leading role in Turkish society, both with regard to public appointments and in awarding public contracts, and in the whole conduct of society. Shortly after the AKP came into power, one wag at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs changed his out-of-office reply to, "Gone to namaz [prayer]."
It is often mentioned that the AKP government has been democratically elected. In the 2011 election it garnered 49.8% of the vote. But as Fareed Zakaria pointed out in his essay, The Rise of Illiberal Democracy, in the Islamic world democratization has led to an increasing role for theocratic politics, eroding long-standing traditions of secularism and tolerance. The same applies to Turkey, although it could be argued that the ban on students wearing a headscarf is not particularly tolerant.
Nevertheless, the European Court of Human Rights in its landmark decision, Leyla Şahin v. Turkey (2005), identified the türban (as opposed to the loosely knotted village headscarf) as the symbol of political Islam, and upheld the ban, "seeing that it [the türban] appeared to be imposed on women by a religious precept that was hard to reconcile with the principle of gender equality." (Gender equality is enshrined in Article 10 of the Turkish Constitution.) However, this restriction has since been relaxed at universities, and the government plans on removing the ban for public servants.
When Erdoğan was reelected as party leader in October, he declared, "We have shown everyone that an advanced democracy can exist in a predominantly Muslim country," but the events of the last weeks show that Turkey has fallen short of the mark.
Consequently, Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoğlu felt the need to call US Secretary of State John Kerry and remind him that Turkey was not a second-rate democracy. Turkish columnist Burak Bekdil agreed, and added: "Turkey must walk a long way and reform its crippled electoral democracy to earn that title."
As the Turkish Prime Minister has the habit of confusing his personal views with "the nation's will," it is relevant to note what the European Court also said in its judgment. "Pluralism, tolerance and broadmindedness are hallmarks of a democratic society […..] democracy does not simply mean that the views of a majority must always prevail: a balance must be achieved which ensures the fair and proper treatment of people from minorities and avoids any abuse of a dominant position."
According to one poll, the predominantly young and previously apolitical demonstrators in Gezi Park were galvanized into action through the social media and had come to protest police violence as well as for fundamental rights and freedoms. According to another, the main cause was the Prime Minister.
Tayyip Erdoğan has apparently stepped back from the brink and agreed to abide by the court decision to suspend the Gezi Park project and later hold a plebiscite on its future. At the same time, the Prime Minister has declared his patience has come to an end and Taksim Square and Gezi Park have been cleared by the police. His Minister for EU Affairs, Egemen Bağış, has also stated that anyone who enters Taksim Square will be considered a terrorist. Woe betide the visitor to Istanbul who loses his way.
Irrespective of the outcome, a new consciousness has been born in Turkey; and as a Turkish lawyer commented, Erdoğan has let the genie out of the bottle. As difficult as it is to mark a gift from the Almighty "Return to sender," the Prime Minister will find it equally difficult to push the genie back in.
Robert Ellis is a regular commentator on Turkish affairs in the Danish and international press.
Related Topics: Turkey | Robert Ellis
Hassan Rouhani, In His Own Words
Share: "Nuclear weapons have no role in Iran's national security doctrine; therefore Iran has nothing to conceal." — Iranian President Hassan Rouhani
The following are excerpts from interviews with Iran's new President, Hassan Rouhani, all within the last three weeks, in Asharq Al-Awsat and a few live television debates with the other candidates in Iran's recent election:
Iran's nuclear program and talks between Iran and the P5+1:
"A politically motivated campaign of misinformation has persistently attempted to cast doubts on the exclusively peaceful nature of this program. This campaign is being fueled and directed first and foremost by Israel, to divert international attention not only from its own clandestine and dangerous nuclear weapons program, but also from its destabilizing and inhuman policies and practices in Palestine and the Middle East. Regrettably, the Security Council has discredited itself by allowing the United States to impose this counter-productive Israeli agenda.
"I will reverse this trend by restoring international confidence and exposing the ulterior motives [of Iran's critics]. Nuclear weapons have no role in Iran's national security doctrine; therefore Iran has nothing to conceal. But in order to move towards the resolution of Iran's nuclear dossier, we need to build both domestic consensus and global convergence and understanding through dialogue.
"Iran should articulate its positions and policies in a more coherent and appreciable manner, and the United States and its allies should abandon their deception of manufacturing new enemies and portraying Iran and its exclusively peaceful nuclear program as a threat. Serious, balanced and time-bound negotiations aimed at resolving clearly defined questions and concerns by both sides can play an effective role in resolving this artificially manufactured crisis. The P5+1 can be one channel for such negotiations, provided that they are prepared to be a vehicle for understanding and resolution of the issue rather than a tool for procrastination and political blackmail."
Policy towards the conflict in Syria:
"There is a human tragedy going on in Syria and all must do their utmost to put an end to this travesty. But facts cannot be overlooked. Syria has remained the only country in the region to resist Israeli expansionist policies and practices. Furthermore, the fratricidal conflict in Syria was provoked and continues to be fueled by certain governments within and outside the region. In my view, and in order to find a fair and generally agreed solution, Iran can play a mediatory role between the Syrian government and those in the opposition who strive for democracy and good governance."
Stance on the Palestinian–Israeli conflict:
"Since the inception of the Islamic Republic, the Palestinian issue has been high on the agenda of our foreign policy. Iran will continue to support the Palestinian cause whole-heartedly."
On the Obama administration's policy towards Iran:
"Obama's policy on Iran should be judged by his deeds, not by his words. His tactic, as he himself has indicated, is to speak softly but to act harshly. Sanctions adopted and implemented against Iran during the Obama administration are unprecedented in the history of bilateral relations between Iran and the US. If sincerity can be measured, and intention can be read, sanctions and daily threats are the criteria for this measurement and reading. In my view, Obama's policy toward Iran cannot lead to the improvement of the troubled bilateral relations as long as the US's mischievous treatment of Iran continues to dictate the course."
Relationship with Iran's Supreme Leader Khamenei:
"Decisions on major foreign policy issues constitutionally require the support of the Supreme Leader. Having served as Iran's national security advisor during the Khatami and Rafsanjani administrations, I am privileged to have a long experience of working closely with the Supreme Leader, I expect to receive the same support and trust from the Supreme Leader on initiatives and measures I adopt to advance our foreign policy agenda."
Related Topics: Iran | Banafsheh Zand
You are subscribed to this list as bobbygmartin1938@gmail.com.
To unsubscribe, go to http://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/list_unsubscribe.php
To edit your subscription options, go to http://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/list_edit.php
To subscribe to the this mailing list, go to http://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/list_subscribe.php
Print
No comments:
Post a Comment